Time controlled selector



July 20, 1937. s. E.REYMER TIME CONTROLLED SELECTOR Filed Feb. 24, 1934 Patente-ol July 20, 1937 JNHTED STATES TENT FFQE.

16 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in time controlled selector devices, and more particularly to an improved time controlled selector for radio programs.

An object of this invention is to effect automatic selection ci radio programs at predetermined intervals in accordance with a preselected sequence.

Another object is the production of a device adapted for use with the conventional program selection tuners of radio receivers.

Another object of this invention is to produce a device which will effect the intermittent tuning movement incident to program selection without the aid of any source of power other than the timing device.

Another object is to produce a device which will automatically prevent the production of sensory signals during the tuning period.

Another object is to produce a device which is economical to manufacture and operate and which is both simple and positive in operation.

Another object is to produce a device adapted for alternative manual or automatic operation.

Referring to the drawing:

Fig. I is a side elevation of one form of the device applied to a conventional tuning condenser.

Fig. II is a broken front view of the device.

Fig. III is a front view of the time controlled release mechanism.

Fig. IV is an upward View of a portion of the tuning dial showing the stops and the coacting abutments.

Fig. V is a side view of an alternative arrangement of the time controlled release mechanism.

Corresponding numerals refer to the same parts throughout the several figures.

Referring more particularly to Figs. I to IV of the drawing; a condenser gang i having movement has a shaft 2 supporting the rotor on fairly frictionless bearings. The rotor is statically balanced for any position by the counterweight il. The spiral spring 4, attached at one end to the frame of the condenser gang and at the other end to the shaft 2, biases the rotor of the condenser gang to the full open position (minimum capacity). Upon the forward end of the shaft 2 is fixedly mounted the tuning and indicating dial 5 having gear teeth on one half of its circumference which mesh with idler pinion which in turn meshes with pinion 1. Pinion l is iixed to the shaft 8 to which is fixed the tuning knob 9. Shaft 8 passes through a bearing l@ which has suiiicient friction therein (Cl. 250m2@ to maintain the dial 5 in any desired position against the tension of the spring 4, allowing manual operation as hereinafter described. This shaft is slidably mounted in the bearing ill so that pressure on the knob 9 will force pinion 'l to disengage pinion 6. This same movement causes bellcrank l2, which is pivoted at i3, to move the worm ill upward into engagement with gear l5. In this latter position, the tuning condensers are disabled for manual operation and are adapted to be time controlled. The driving connection between the motor 35 and the worm Hi is made laterally flexible so that the worm may be moved by the bellcrank l2 independently of the motor. rIhis may be accomplished by making the connecting shaft, which s of small diameter, fairly long, as indicated by the broken section. Among other eXpedients which will be obvious to those skilled in the art, are a Bowden wire, or a gear train, similar to that used in the stem setting-winding mechanism of watches, comprising a gear iixed to the shaft of worm M which meshes with a gear fixed to the motor shaft, the latter being concentric with the pin i3.

In order to predetermine the sequence in which the stations will be automatically selected, a selector disc 25 is provid-ed. The disc 25 is rotatably mounted upon a stu life carried by panel il and has a toothed periphery for effecting its rotation. Radial rows of threaded holes 28 are provided at equal angular intervals, every hole in each row representing one station capable of automatic selection. In order to determine which of the stations is to be selected, a screw plug 2 is inserted into the hole corresponding thereto.

'Ihese plugs coact with abutments 29 corresponding in number and position to the holes in any radial row. 'I'hese abutments are flexibly mounted upon the panel ll by means of screws and are adapted to be depressed upon the passage of a plug 21 thereover.

Dial 5 has a series of raised stops 3f! which correspond in number and radial position to abutments E@ and holes 28, and circumferentially correspond to the positions of the desired stations upon the tuning dial. In the instant case each of the stops 3G is displaced 180 from the position of the corresponding station upon the tuning dial.

Since it is practically impossible to construct a set in which all of the stations will appear precisely at the proper dial reading, the abutments 29 are made adjustable so that the dial 5 can be made to stop exactly at the desired position.

The worm lr! is driven by means of a clockwork motor, synchronous motor or equivalent motor of isochronous characteristics 35 and drives the gear i5 counterclockwise at the rate of two revolutions per hour. The gear I5 is integral with hub It which is freely rotatable upon shaft 2. The hub lli has a peripheral slot near its forward end in which rides 'the forked member I8. The forked member has a rearwardly extending hori- Zontal portion having a pin it] which rides in the spiral slot 2@ of the gear I5. The pin I9 after passing through the slot 28 is bent to a position parallel to the gear I5 as shown in Fig. III. A perforation in the end of the pin I9 carries a small friction shoe of leather or similar substance. The forked member I8 also has a vertical forwardly extending portion which is adapted to engage alternatively the fixed stops 2l or the stops Z2 which are attached to dial A spiral spring Il is attached at one end to the rearwardly extending portion of the member I and at the other end to hub i6, and tends to bias the member IS to the position shown in Fig. III; i. e. with the pin l@ at the outer end of the spiral slot 2d. The spring Il is so chosen and adjusted that its tension in this position is greater than the maximum tension of spring l by an amount sufficient to give a positive rotation to shaft Z. Both springs Il and Il are preferably chosen with several turns so that the increase in tension for one half revolution will not be material.

As the gear i5 is driven in a counter-clockwise direction, the member Il? is held in a vertical posi-- tion by the stop 2l. The spiral slot Eil acting upon the pin IQ of member It causes the latter to be forced downward, until such a time that the forwardly extending portion member I is released from stop 2l and engages the stop 22. At this time gear i5 will have made one half revolution. The spring il acting upon the dial 5 through member' E8 and stop 22 is sufficiently strong to overcome spring il and rotates the condenser rotor to its completely closed position (maximum capacity). At this point the pin I9 of member iii will have retraced its travel in slot 2G, causing member i8 to disengage stop 22 and to engage the lower stop El. Spring 5 then tends to return the condenser rotor to its former open position.

Spiral slot 2li does not have a uniform pitch but is much steeper adjacent the ends thereof. This allows considerably more accuracy in assuring the point on gear I5 at which the member i8 engages and releases the stops 2i and and hence the time at which a new tuning operation is initiated.

As the condenser was brought to the closed position by the spring Il, pawl 23 on dial 5 engages the pinion 2Q mounted on the panel Il and rotates it. Pinion 24 in turn engages the teeth of selector disc 225 and by its movement rotates the disc 25 in a clockwise direction through an angle equal to that between successive station selecting positions;v i. e., the angle subtended between successive radial rows of holes 28. Disc 25 is held against casual movement by means of stationary pawl 3I attached to panel II. As disc 25 is brought into position, a screw-plug Zit/previously inserted in the desired one of holes 28, rides over the corresponding abutment 29, and pushes the abutment into proximity with the side of dial 5. Now, as dial 5 is returned toward the open position by spring ll, a raised portion or stop 36 thereof will engage the depressed abutment 29, stopping the dial 5 at a corresponding position.

Since the gear I5 revolves at the rate of two revolutions per hour, and the member I8 is released from stationary stops 2l at each half revolution, it is obvious that the select` dise T25 will be moved to succeeding positions -e dial 5 reset at l5 minute intervals.

In order to control the speed of rotation of dial 5 and prevent slamming of the dial against the abutments, a centrifugal governor is by pinion 6. The tips of the spring leaves ogovernor 32 when in rotation are displaced outwardly by the flyweights and bear inside of a metallic friction cup 33, acting as friction shoes to control the speed of rotation of the governor. This cup is insulated from ground and is electrically connected to the grid of a stage of amplication in the receiver. Rotation of the governor 312 connects the cup 33 and its associated grid circuit to ground, thus disabling the receiver while dial 5 is in motion. It is preferable that cup 33 be connected to an amplifier stage in which the grit return is grounded, so that only the signal voltage will be applied to cup 33, although this is not absolutely necessary. It may also be advantageous in sets employing automatic volume control to connect cup 33 to the grid of an audio frequency stage in order to prevent a blast of signals when the disabling circuit is broken.

W hen the device changes the condenser setting from one station to another, at the time that member I8 is released from stop ZI, the stops 22 will not be at a position directly opposite the stops 2i but will be displaced therefrom by virtue oi the fact that dial 5 is at this time held in a position corresponding to the first station. Spring Il will therefore be required to rotate member It until the latter encounters the stop If t rotation is unrestrained there will be a considerable impact. To prevent this, the leather friction shoe in pin I9 is provided so that it will bear against the rear face of gear I5. By Virtue` oi the fact that the stops 2I and 22 are forward of' the position at which the tension of spring Il is applied to member I8, the pressure of the friction shoe is released when member Iii is resti" by the stops 2l, or when it is rotating the c For manual operation, the tuning knob 9 is pulled outward so that pinion I meshes with pinion 6. This operation also causes the worm I4 to disengage the gear I5, preventing the latter from being clock driven. The plug 2l, which is then actuating one of abutments 2Q, is removed from the selector disc 25, or the selector disc 25 is manually rotated to such a position that a row of holes 28 having no screw-plugs 2l therein is opposite the abutments 29. Alternatively, the disc 25 may be removed from stud 26. This prevents the abutments 29 from interfering in any manner with the manual operation of the dial il. Whenever the worm Ill disengages the gear I5 as noted above, the latter will be rotated by the spring il in a clockwise direction until the outer end of the spiral slot 2Il engages the pin I9 of member I8. This forces the forwardly extending portion of member IS outwardly into the notch in the end of stop 2|. This holds member it and gear I5 in a fixed position until such time that worm I4 is again engaged with gear I5 for automatic operation. This same outward motion of member I8 causes the forwardly extending portion thereof to be free of stops 22 regardless of the position of dial 5. t is obvious that member i8 will 'oe released from fixed abutments 2l at precisely 15 minutes after the worm i4. engages the gear I5, and in order to assure resetting of the condenser in the interval between broadcast periods, worm lil should be forced into engagement with gear i5 only during such an interval.

The modification shown in Fig. V is designed to obviate the inconvenience incident to initiating automatic operation only during the intervals between broadcasting periods. A spur pinion @il is driven by a synchronous motor 35 and meshes with the spur gear 45 which is analogous to the gear l5 of Fig. I. In the position shown, as the gear l5 is driven in a counter-clockwise direction by the pinion lill, the operation will be identical with that described in connection with the first arrangement. When the tuning knob 9 is pulled outward for manual operation as before, the bellcrank 42, under the action of spring 46, will force the gear 45 to the left, so that member i5 will not engage either the fixed stops 2l or the movable stops 22. Gear i5 remains meshed with pinion 45 however and assures that, upon resumption ,of automatic operation, the member i8 will be released from Xed stops 2i at the required time. If desired, the xed stops 2l may be made wide enough, so that upon shifting of gear #l5 to the left, the member l5 will still engage them and be released therefrom at regular intervals. The stops 22 will in this case have the dimensions shown, so that shifting of the gear l5 will pre- Vent interaction of member I8 and the stops Other modifications of the various parts of the device may obviously be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, the lower ends of bellcranks i2 and 42 instead of terminating in the manner shown. may terminate in a nger or a forked portion such as that of member i8 and which is adapted to ride in a peripheral groove in a portion of shaft 5 which extends to the rear of pinion l. Such a construction would dispense with the need for a spring 46 shown in Fig. V.

The selector disc 25 may also be constructed vwith a smooth periphery and having the driving teeth thereof punched in a small circle close to its hub. The pinion 2li would then be mounted /above the abutments 29 and the pawl 23 mounted on dial 5 in such a position as to engage the pinion 2Q. Stationary pawl 3l would also be shifted so as to engage the driving teeth. if desired, the selector disc 25 may be covered with a cap which is detachably fastened to the panel ill or to the disc 25.

Usually the sequence of programs which it is desired to select will repeat each week. In such a case, if desired, seven of the selector discs 25 can be provided, one for each day of the week, and the screw-plugs 2l left in their positions; the discs being changed each day.

By the use of the term radio throughout the specication and claims, I do not intend to limit myself to radio which has for its purpose the production of audible signals, since the device is obviously applicable to all types of transducers in which a discrimina-tion is made by selecting a particular electrical frequency whether the output therefrom be audible, visible, or otherwise. Also, the electrical frequency selected may be transmitted by radio or wire channels, since it is obvious that the medium over which the energy is transmitted will not affect the operation of the device. Also, since similar tuning devices are used at the transmitter and receiver, it is obvious that this device is adapted to vary a transmitted frequency in any desired sequence.

I claim:

1. In a frequency selecting electrical network,

the combination of rotatable means for selecting any one of a continuous spectrum of electrical frequencies, means for rotating the selecting means to select desired ones of the frequencies, and means for disabling the electrical network during the rotation of the frequency selecting means comprising a speed control means for the latter.

2. The combination of rotatable means for selecting any one of a continuous spectrum of electrical frequencies in accordance with the degree of rotation thereof, means for restraining the rotatable means to select a single frequency over a period of time, a motor, means for storing over at least a part of the period of time a portion of the energy supplied by the motor, means for causing the motor to determine the time period over which the rotatable means is restrained, and means for utilizing the stored energy at the termination of the time period to rotate the frequency selecting means to select a desired one of the frequencies.

3. The combination of rotatable means for selecting any one of a continuous spectrum of electrical frequencies in accordance with the degree of rotation thereof and which is adapted to be rotated to twoextreme positions, a synchronous motor, means controlled thereby for determining the time period over which the frequency selecting means shall select a desired frequency, means for storing over the time period a portion of the energy supplied by the moto-r and for rotating the frequency selecting means to one of the eX- treme positions at the termination of the time period, moans to cause the.energy storage means to become ineffective upon reaching this extreme position, means for rotating the frequency selecting means to the other of the eXtreme positions, and means to arrest the motion of the frequency selecting means when rotating toward the latter position.

4. The combination as in claim 3 in which the arresting means comprises a plurality of selectively effective arresting elements, and including means for sequentially selecting desired ones of said arresting elements.

5. The combination as in claim 3 in which the arresting means comprises a plurality of selectively effective arresting elements, including means for sequentially selecting desired ones of said arresting elements, and means for causing said frequency selecting means to move said last claimed means to successive selecting positions.

6. The combination as in claim. 3 including means for manually rotating the frequency selecting means, and means for making the energy storage means and the manual rotating means selectively effective to rotate said frequency selecting means.

7, In a radio receiving set, the combination of a variable condenser having a shaft rotatable to two extreme positions, a spring, a motor tor tensioning the spring during each of a plurality of successive time periods, means for causing the spring at the termination of each of the periods to rotate the shaft to one of the extreme positions, means for rendering ineffective the action of the spring upon the shaft at the said extreme position, a second spring for rotating the shaft to the other of the extreme positions, a series of stops affixed to the shaft, a plurality of abutments adapted when actuated to cooperate with the stops and to arrest the rotation of the shaft when urged toward the second position under the action of the second spring, a selector member adapted to actuate the abutments, and means for moving the selector member to successive positions and causing it to actuate the abutments.

8. The combination as in claim 7 in which the motor is an isochronous motor and including means for causine the motor to determine the intervals.

9. The combination as in claim '7 including means for controlling the speed of rotation of the shaft.

10. The combination as in claim '7 including means for manually rotating the condenser, and means for making the springs and the manual rotating means selectively effective to rotate the shaft.

1l. In a radio receiving set, the combination of a variable condenser having a shaft rotatable to two extreme positions, a spring adapted to bias the shaft to one of the extreme positions, a fixed to the shaft, a gear rotatably mounted on the shaft, a hub for the gear, a peripheral groove in the hub, a spiral slot in the gear, a member having a forked vertical portion adapted to ride in the peripheral groove and a horizontal portion adapted to ride in the spiral slot, a spring attached to the hub and the member and adapted to bias the member to one end of the spiral slot, an isochronous motor for driving the gear against the tension of the second spring, a plurality of fixed stops for restraining the movement of the member until released therefrom by the action of the spiral slot, a series of stops upon the dial, one of which is adapted to be engaged by the member upon release from a xed stop and thereby cause the second spring to rotate the dial and shaft to the other of the extreme positions when the spiral slot will cause the member to release the dial, a second series of stops upcn the dial, a series oi" abutments adapted when actuated to engage the second series of stops, a selector disc,

plugs in the selector disc for actuating the abutments, and a pawl upon the dial for causing the dial to rotate the disc to a new selecting position.

l2. The combination as in claim 13 including for manually rotating the dial and shaft, and means for making the springs and the manual rotating means selectively effective to` rotate the dial and shaft.

13. In a radio set, means for effecting intermittent adjustment of a rotary member comprising the combination of a driving member, means for storing over a predetermined time period energy received from said member, a rotary driven ber adapted to be rotated to two extreme pos ions, means comprising a second energy storing means for moving the driven member to one of the extreme positions, means responsive to the motion of the driving member for causing the first energy storing means at the end of the time period to move the driven member to the second of the extreme positions and to store energy concurrently in the second energy storing means, means for rendering the action of the rst energy storing means upon the driven member ineffective at the second position and thereby allow the second energy storing means to return the driven member toward the first position, and means for restraining the driven member intermediate the two extreme positions.

1li. The combination in a frequency selecting electrical circuit, of a rotary variable condenser and means for controlling the speed of rotation thereof, said means comprising a rotatable shaft mechanically coupled to the condenser, electrically conducting friction shoes carried by the shaft, flyweights attached to the friction shoes and adapted to displace the latter with respect to the shaft upon rotation thereof, an electrically conducting circular track normally from the friction shoes and adapted to be contacted by the latter upon displacement, and means for disabling the circuit upon contact of te friction shoes with the track.

l5. Means for effecting intermittent rotary oscillation comprising a rotatabie driven member; a rotatable inte -ediate n ember; and a continuously rotatable driving member; a spring connected between the drivin-g member and the in termediate member; means for restraining the intermediate member and causing the spring to be tensione-d by the rotation of the driving member; means responsive to the rotation of the driving member for moving the intermediate mcmner in a radial direction, releasing it from the restraining means and causing it to engage the driven member, whereby both may be rotated by the spring; means responsive to the rotation of the intermediate member for causing it to release the driven member; and means for rotating the driven member in the reverse direction upon its release therefrom.

i6. In a radio receiving set, the combination of a variable condenser having a rotatable shaft, a series of stops affixed to the shaft, a plurality of abutments normally out of the paths of rotation of the stops, means supporting the abutments rigidly in the direction of rotation of the stops and iexibly in a direction perpendicular ther to, a selector member for moving a selected one of the abutments into the path of rotation of a stop, manually adjustable means carried by the selector member for conditioning the latter to move desired ones of the abutments, and means for actuating the selector member at equal time intervals to move an abutment into the path of the stop.

STEPHEN E REYMER.

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